The best back to school cookies!

Thick, gooey, chocolaty and down right naughty!! Nothing will brighten you kids day more than one of these babies in their lunch box during a monotonous first week back at school! It's taken me about a year to get this recipe tweaked right, so I'm pretty confident that by this point, this is as good as its going to get :)

• 250g Plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 170g Salted butter
• 170g Light brown sugar
• 100 g Caster sugar
• 1 Capful of vanilla essence
• 1 Egg
• 1 Egg yolk
• 150g White chocolate - cut into small chunks
• 200g Milk chocolate at least 45% coco solids - cut into small chunks

1. Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees, and grease a baking sheet or two well with vegetable or sunflower oil.
2. Sieve the flour, salt and bicarb into a large mixing bowl and stir together.
3. In a saucepan, gently melt the butter, once melted mix in the sugar until smooth and creamy, then mix in the vanilla, egg and yolk until creamy and smooth.
4. Carefully mix in the flour and stir until the mixture has softened, then add the chocolate chunks (Don't worry if there looks like too much chocolate, its supposed to be that way), set aside to stand for about half an hour.
5. Spoon lumps onto your baking tray and gently press with thumb slightly, bear in mind when deciding cookie sizes that your lumps will spread in the oven, for the same reason do not place the lumps too close together.
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden, them remove from the oven and allow to stand for two minutes, then using a spatula carefully lift the cookies and place on a plate to cool for about 5 minutes.

I love to eat these cookies when they are fresh from the oven when they are at their gooiest, but they do stay gooey when cooled :) plus if this mixture makes too many for you, these cookies freeze down really well so you can keep some for another day :)

Thanks for stopping by
Siobhan xoxo

Blushed Nectarines In Light Syrup

I love this dessert as its delicious, simple and you don't feel guilty after eating it! Great as a light yet luxurious dessert, perfect if you are dieting!

• 2 fairly ripe nectarines
• 200 ml of boiling water
• 4 tbsp Caster sugar
• Lemon zest

1. Put the boiling water in a sauce pan and dissolve the sugar into it, and reduce very slightly.
2. Add the nectarines and place the lid on the pan, lightly poach the nectarines for 2 -3 three minutes, turning over once to allow both sides to cook. Do not poach for longer than three minutes, as the fruits will loose their firmness.
3. Using a spoon with holes in it, remove the nectarines from the syrup (which should have turned a pink colour from the fruit skins) and place on a plate top side down.
4. Turn up the heat on the syrup, add the lemon zest and reduce until fairly thick in consistency.
5. Carefully peel the skins from the nectarines, place topside down again, and pop to cool in the fridge for about an hour.
6. Remove the syrup from the heat and set aside.
7. When the nectarines are chilled, carefully spoon the syrup over them, and serve with either a curl of whipped cream or luxury vanilla ice cream/gellato.

This recipe is so simple, yet has a classy feel about it making it a perfect choice for a dinner party :) Let me know your opinions :)

Thanks For Stopping By
Siobhan xoxo

Crunchy chicken ceasar salad (No anchovies, serves 2)

I adore Caesar salad, but I despise it when you can really taste anchovies in the sauce, so when I make it myself I always make my sauce without the anchovies, but with the same kick in flavour.

• Half a Romain lettuce
• 6 Cherry tomatoes
• 2 Bread crumbed chicken breast
• 1 - 2 Slices of thick bread
• 8 Medium cloves of garlic
• 4 tbsp Olive oil
• 3 heaped tbsp Mayonnaise
• 1 slightly heaped table spoon of English or Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper grinder
• A slosh of vinegar
• 1 tbsp of fresh grated (finely) Parmesan
• 2 table spoons of Parmesan shavings

1. 
   
   Par bake the chicken breasts in an oven at 170 degrees.
2. 
   
   Remove from the oven and cut into strips, then place in a pan flesh side down, with some olive oil, 2 of the cloves of garlic (crushed), and grind in some salt and pepper to taste, fry until golden on both sides of the exposed flesh, then set aside to cool.
3. 
   
   Cut the pieces of bread into little cubes and mix with three cloves of garlic (Crushed) and the olive oil until evenly covered, then gently fry off the bread until golden ad crispy. Set aside to cool.
4. 
   
   Place the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, 3 cloves of crushed garlic and grated Parmesan into a bowl, season well with freshly ground salt and pepper and mix together well, blend until smooth if preferred.
5. 
   
   Loosen the mixture with a table spoon of two of cold water, until the mixture runs easily from a spoon, the chill.
6. 
   
   Wash the lettuce leaves and tear in half then cut down the center, and cut the tomatoes in half.
7. 
   
   Toss the lettuce leaves in the mayo dressing, then arrange in two pasta bowls and season to taste.
8. 
   
   Sprinkle croutons over the leaves, and arrange the chicken strips in the center, and place the tomato halves around the edge of the bowls.
9. 
   
   Garnish the salads with a table spoon of Parmesan shavings each.

Quick, easy, healthy and flavoursome, how all salads should be :)

Comment and let me know how this recipe worked for you :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

Siobhan xoxo

Rich rum, white chocolate and berry cream cake

This is a lovely recipe that's perfect for afternoon get togethers as it goes perfectly with coffee, or as a super indulgent dessert. They best bit about this recipe is though the cake is only the size of a cheesecake, it is much more filling so it goes further :)

• 150g Butter
• 250g Short bread fingers (crushed)
• 250g White chocolate
• 300ml Sour cream
• 2 tbsp Dark rum (You could always leave this out)
• 300ml Double cream
• 250g Summer berries (preferably strawberries, blueberries and raspberries)

1. Line a spring release cheese cake tin (20cm) with greaseproof paper.
2. Melt 90g of the butter in a pan, once melted remove from the heat and add the crushed shortbread.
3. Press the shortbread mix into the base of the tin and place in the fridge to chill.
4. Break up the white chocolate into pieces and place in a small heat proof bowl with the left over butter, then place into a pan of simmering water and gently melt.
5. Once melted, removed from the pan and mix in the sour cream and rum.
6. Whip the double cream and carefully and evenly fold into the chocolate mix.
7. Spoon this evenly over the biscuit base and smooth out the top.
8. Place back in the fridge for at least 6 hours, but  I always find leaving it overnight creates a lovely thick and creamy texture.
9. Finally, when ready to serve top the cake with the summer berries.

You can always serve this recipe with single cream or a berry coulis, but I personally find the recipe rich enough to serve alone. If I were you I would make the cake a day in advanced, so that it really gets time to set well and become very thick and creamy in texture. :)

Let me know your opinions or even variations on this recipe :)

Thanks for stopping by
Siobhan xoxo

Home :)

Hay guys,
Sorry I have been on holiday for a few weeks and unfortunately the wifi in west wales isn't as good as that back here in the south so I haven't been able to upload any posts due to not having net access. I will make sure that by the end of the evening I am up to date :)
Thanks for stopping by
Siobhan xoxo

Crunchy Ginger Biscuits

This is a great homey recipe and is great all year round but also makes a great festive treat! You could even use a gingerbread man cutter with this mixture. They are simple to make and great fun to decorate, a perfect way to keep kids occupied over the school holidays :)

• 250g self raising flour
• 75g Brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp of ground ginger
• A fair sprinkle of ground mixed spice
• A few shavings of fresh nutmeg
• 25g lard
• 25g butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 a tbs of syrup mixed with about a 1 tbs of brown sugar
• Your choice of decoration e.g. glace/butter icing, decorative sprinkles etc.

1. Pre-heat and oven to 180 C / gas 4.
2. Sieve the flour, sugar, bicarb and spices into a mixing bowl.
3. Put syrup and sugar mix with the lard and butter and gently heat until all melted together.
4. Pour the melted mix into the flour and carefully mix together, if the mixture is sticky and moist add more flour until the mixture is dry (not too dry) and firm enough to kneed with your hands.
5. Kneed and tease the dough together until smooth and well mixed.
6. Flour a smooth surface and rolling pin, put the dough ball on this surface.
7. Carefully roll out until the dough is about 2-3 mm thick (the biscuits Will rise substantially when baking)
8. Taking a cookie cutter of your choice cut out biscuit shapes and place on a well greased baking sheet/tray.
9. Bake for around 10 - 15 minutes until firm and a rich brown colour, these biscuits cook very quickly so make you you do not burn them.
10. Leave the biscuits to cool an then decorate them as you wish. I personally like using barbie sprinkles with glace icing - childish yes, but very fun :L

So there you have it, quick and tasty treats! I personally like alot of spice in my biscuits, but if you are not such a fan you  can always use smaller measurements and add a tad More sugar :) I'm on holiday for the next two weeks so who knows what I will be cooking up for you next time :L

Thanks for stopping by!
Siobhan xoxo

Magic Lemon Pudding

Magic lemon pudding is quick and tasty, and a favourite amongst children. The best thing about serving this dessert to children is that its a really easy way to help them with their daily calcium intake, as it is far less boring than a simple glass of milk. Another plus of this pudding is it is not costly to make, so instead of breaking the bank on shop desserts, you can make this yourself :)! The 'magic' in this pudding is that you make on single batter, and while the pudding is cooking it separates, leaving a cakey topping and a creamy, sweet lemon sauce beneath - the more lemon juice you use the more sauce is produced, I personally like an even split of cake and sauce.

• 1 large lemon
• 50g of butter (ensure soft not cold and hard)
• 100g of caster sugar
• 50g of self-raising flour
• 2 eggs
• 285ml milk (1/2 a pint)

1. Grease a medium sized, circular baking dish with vegetable or sunflower oil.
2. In a mixing bowl add the rind of the lemon, the butter and the sugar. Using a whisk, cream together until soft.
3. Separate egg yolks from the white, putting the whites into another mixing bowl.
4. Put yolks into the butter and sugar mix with a little flour an mix together.
5. Now add the juice of the lemon (Strained) and the remaining sifted flour and stir together.
6. Now leave you mix and whisk your egg whites until they are stiff, then gently fold the whites into the cake batter.
7. Carefully pour hte mixture into the baking dish and bake at 150 for around 40 minutes until golden in colour.
8. Eat warm or allow to cool to allow the sauce to completely separate from the cake.

Hope this recipe works well for you :) I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to be cooking next week just yet, I'm thinking along hte lines of a savoury snack or appetiser. If you have any requests leave a comment letting me know :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Love Siobhan xoxo